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Alone Together Now
is the first issue of Spike comic book series. Written by Brian Lynch and illustrated by Franco Urru, it was originally published on October 13, 2010 by IDW Publishing. Synopsis No Bad too big in this all-new monthly series! The fan-favorite Angel team of Brian Lynch and artist Franco Urru are back! And this time, it's all about Spike. He's out on his own, away from Angel's watchful eye, and in charge of his own destiny. Lover, fighter, vampire with a soul, he's kick-starting his biggest adventure yet. Damsels, prepare to be saved and wooed! Forces of evil, get ready to be destroyed and mocked! Featuring guest-appearances by Angel, Illyria, and a face from the past seeking to destroy his future!"Spike #1 (of 8)". IDW Publishing. Retrieved September 10, 2019. Summary A Las Vegas casino is getting swarmed by flesh eating locusts, one of many events that get covered up by authority figures. Wishing to break away from Angel Investigations and gain some independence, Spike decides to take it on himself to save Las Vegas by forming his own evil-fighting Team Spike. After a brief, yet on-the-nose recapping of his life, Spike is in the present day, commenting on the Last Angel in Hell movie. Aside from his fame garnered by that movie, he also inspired the the Twinkle book series written none other than Spider Harley, Spike's ex-girlfriend. A lot of fans (wearing Team William or Team Jared shirts) are lining up to see the first showing of Re-clipse and are excited when a group of real vampires show up. However, real vampires are nothing like how they are portrayed in the books and they attack the fans. Angel, Illyria, and Spike come to the rescue, although Spike can't help but pose for onlooking cameras. Before heading out to Vegas, Spike visits the Mosaic Wellness Center to recruit Beck. Mosaic coordinator Malposo Angra Mazda Ormazd Yazatas Mainyu is reluctant at first because Beck has been displaying emotional and behavioral problems, Spike chalks it up to her youth and states that Betta George will accompany them. Malposo lets Spike have Beck for two days, but she must wear gauntlets to control her pyrokinesis. Beck, who is donning a new tough-girl look, subsequently destroys the gauntlets the first chance she gets. On their way to Vegas via motorcycle, George displays his ability to psychically glamour himself to passing motorists. At their arrival, Spike is attacked by a demon that controls a group of Elvis impersonators at its will. The impersonators are forced into one another, seemingly to join as one. While Beck uses her abilities to keep tourists from getting hurt, Spike dives in the center of the Elvis ball and kills the demon, but not without injuring his shoulder. Because the demon had been expecting him, Spike affirms that the evil in Las Vegas knows that he is there. Meanwhile, in a luxurious apartment, a man receives a late-night call letting him know that Spike is in Las Vegas. When he returns to bed, his lover is revealed as Drusilla — whose visions predicted Spike's arrival. Although Drusilla has a sexual relationship with the man, she states that her heart belongs to Spike. The man then states that Spike has his soul. Continuity *Spike recalls being sired by Drusilla ("Fool for Love"), the two going to Sunnydale ("School Hard"), he returning alone to the town ("The Harsh Light of Day"), falling in love with Buffy ("Out of My Mind"), getting back his soul ("Grave"), "exploding" ("Chosen"), reappearing in Los Angeles ("Conviction"), the town going to hell ("Not Fade Away"), and the event becoming a movie (Last Angel in Hell). *Spike mentions Maria Harley as his ex-girlfriend, having been involved with her in Spike: After the Fall, Part Three. *Malposo mentions appreciating what Spike did for the Mosaic Wellness Center, in reference to the events from "Spike: Asylum" miniseries. *Beck's file describes her birthday as June 21, 1989, and Malposo describes her as 22 years old. This is a reference to this series being concluded in 2011 (Stranger Things), although not consistent to a chronology of the Buffyverse. This series takes place before Spike's arrival with his ship in Twilight, Part Four, which in turn is about three years after 2003 episode "Dirty Girls" (in Freefall, Part Three, Xander confirms late Season Eight and early Season Nine as three years since he lost his eye). *Spike describes himself as "older" than 22 years old; considering this story takes place around the year 2006 and he was born in 1853 (Asylum, Part Two), Spike would be around 153 years old (or 158 in 2011). *Betta Georges references his experience with Los Angeles becoming hell, as well as being part of a team with Angel, Illyria, and Connor (After the Fall). *Spike and Beck are reunited, after she returned to the Mosaic in Asylum, Part Five. Appearances Individuals *Angel *Beck *Betta George *Winifred Burkle *Connor *Dracula *Drusilla *Gertie *Maria Harley *Illyria *John *Lloyd *Malposo Angra Mazda Ormazd Yazatas Mainyu *Master *"Pinky" *Spike *Buffy Summers Organizations and titles *Team Spike *Slayer *Wolfram & Hart Species *Demon **Asphyx demon **Fire elemental **Splenden beast *Human **Werewolf *Turok-Han *Vampire Events *Fall of Los Angeles *Vampire craze Locations *England **London *United States **Las Vegas **Los Angeles ***Wolfram & Hart Los Angeles branch **Primm ***Mosaic Wellness Center **Sunnydale Weapons and objects *The Amulet *''Last Angel in Hell'' *Soul *"Twinkle" *''Re-clipse'' Death count *Spike, sired by Drusilla (in flashback). *Unidentified woman, bitten by Spike (in flashback). *Unknown number of vampires, beheaded by Spike, Angel, and Illyria. *"Pinky", stabbed by Spike. Behind the scenes Production *Writer Brian Lynch discussed his original plans for the issue: :"To be honest, when it went from unlimited series to mini-series, I completely rewrote issue one, but kept the Twinkle stuff because I thought it was a good set-up for Spike's exposition. :That said, originally, Spike didn't go to Vegas in the first issue (he got there around issue 3). Issue 2 was going to end with John going to a Spider book signing and killing her as a "message" for Spike. Would have been sad end for her, and this way, Spider goes out in a happy place (successful writer!) so in a way I'm glad it was cut. :I should ask IDW if we can put the entire original first issue script in the back of the SPIKE collected."Brian Lynch, "Spike #1 gets released today.". Whedonesque.com, October 13, 2010. *The opening line of the issue is "Las Vegas. Started evil. Stayed that way." This is a reference to Big City Girl, in which Melaka Fray's first line of dialogue is "Bad day. Started bad, stayed that way." Another variation of the line also appears in issue Time of Your Life, Part One, uttered by Buffy Summers. *Spike's mention of "aerial sex" is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Buffy and Angel's superpowered sex in issue Twilight, Part Three. That event has not yet occurred at the time Alone Together Now takes place. *IDW editor Chris Ryall makes a cameo appearance in the story as one of the civilians, in page 16. Distribution *'' '' was the 146th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 12,044 sales in October 2010 at comic specialty stores."Top 300 Comics Actual--October 2010". ICv2, November 8, 2010. Collections *"Alone Together Now" *"Spike: The Complete Series" Pop culture references *Spike mentions tribute shows to singer Frank Sinatra (1915–1998). *Betta George compares Beck to the character Sandy from the film Grease (1978). *Team Spike finds a number of flying impersonators of singer and actor Elvis Presley (1935–1977). *George mentions Wade Lion from Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984–1985) television series. *George mentions profile pictures of Facebook (2004) social media. Gallery Covers Spikeurru1.jpg|Main cover alonetogethernow.jpg|Retailer incentive Spike1Twilight.jpg|New England Comic Con exclusive SpikeEvolution.jpg|New York Comic Con exclusive Cover artwork Spike-01-00b.jpg|Franco Urru with Fabio Mandovani Spike-01-01b.jpg|Jenny Frison Quotes References nl:Alone Together Now Category:Spike comics Category:IDW Publishing